Relationships Between Facial Movement and Emotions Dilay Özmumcu Psyc 374

Outline What is facial movement? Can there be a facial expression of emotion without emotion? Can there be emotion without facial expression? The universality of facial expressions of emotion Interpretation of facial expressions References

What is facial movement?

What is facial movement? What feelings look like in face Changes in forehead, eyebrows, eyelids, cheeks, nose, lips and chin Major emotions- anger, surprise, fear, disgust, sadness, happiness The family of expression for each feeling Used for better understanding the feelings of others or your own Most important part of nonverbal communication

Can there be a facial expression of emotion without emotion? False expressions: Invent expressions when they do not feel any emotion Mislead the observer into thinking whether an emotion is felt when it is not. For distinguishing false from genuine expressions, difficult-to-make muscular movements (in anger, fear and sadness facial expressions) Referential expression: When talking about past or future emotional experiences, describing feelings not now being felt Mock expression: Type of referential expression Feels the opposite of the emotion shown (laughing for not amusing situation)

Can there be emotion without facial expression? Facial activity is always part of an emotion, even when it is inhibited Momentary facial expressions An emotion can be captured in an instant Last a few seconds, but a single frame Extended expression During which a sequence of actions provides the signal (Embarrassment) Ekman (1993)- possibility that there are emotions that have no signal When experienced provide no information to observers about any aspect of the person’s emotional experience.

The universality of facial expressions of emotion Darwin (1872)- They are universal Emotions are biologically innate and evolutionarily adaptive. However, facial expressions are culture-specific Every culture has its own verbal language, it has its own language of facial expressions. Cross-cultural researches Same facial expressions of emotion are produced spontaneously by members of very different cultures in reaction to emotion-eliciting films (Friesen, 1972) Cultural differences in the learned rules of expression management in social situations can produce the appearance of culture-specific facial expressions (Russell, 1994)

Facial action was found to provide accurate information about a number of different aspects of the subjective experience of emotion (Ekman, Friesen, Ancoli; 1980). This may be one of the reasons why sometimes when people give an account of an emotional experience they unexpectedly begin to reexperience of emotion. Spontaneous happiness- more symmetrical Deliberately performed- more asymmetrical

Interpretation of facial expression of emotions Knutson (1996) - facial expressions of emotion affect subjects' interpersonal trait inferences (dominance and affiliation) High dominance and affiliation  From happy expression High dominance and low affiliation  From angry and disgust Low dominance  From fearful and sad expressions Ekman, Friesen, Ancoli (1980) – how a subject’s performance of different muscular movements influences his or her subjective experience of emotion Face may also influence a person’s emotional experience by providing signals to others about how the person feels. Aid the development of rapport, trust, and collegiality, useful in making credibility assessments, evaluating truthfulness and detecting deception; and better information about emotional states provides the basis for better cooperation, negotiation, or sales.

References Ekman, P. (1993). Facial Expression and Emotion. American Psychologist. 48(4), Ekman, P.,& Friesen, W. V. (2003). Unmasking the face. Los Altos CA Ekman, P., Friesen, W. V., & Ancoli, S. (1980). Facial Signs of Emotional Experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 39(6), Knutson, B. (1996). Facial expressions of emotion influence interpersonal trait inferences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 20(3), Matsumoto, D., & Hwang, H. S. (2011). Reading facial expression of emotion. Psychological Science Agenda. Retrieved from Russell, J. A. (1994). Is There Universal Recognition of Emotion From Facial Expression? Psychological Bulletin. 115(1),